(a) On the termination of lend-lease, the lend-lease countries were required to pay for goods in the lend-lease pipe line either in cash or by borrowing from the United States or by supplying goods and services to the United States.  Credits for this purpose have already been extended to Soviet Union, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium amounting to 675 million dollars.  The settlement credit of 650 million dollars to the United Kingdom includes an amount preliminarily fixed at 118 million dollars which represents the excess of purchases by the United Kingdom from the pipe line over goods and services supplied by the United Kingdom to the United States since VJ-day and the balance of various claims by one government against the other.

Credits are also being negotiated with lend-lease countries to finance the disposition of lend-lease inventories and installations and property declared to be surplus.  For instance, 532 million dollars of the settlement credit to the United Kingdom is for this purpose.  These credits will involve no new expenditures by this Government, since they merely provide for deferred repayment by other governments for good:  services which have been financed from war appropriations.

(b) Expenditures from the appropriations to United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, which were discarded under war expenditures above, are estimated to be 1.3 billion dollars in the fiscal year 1946 and 1.2 billion dollars in the fiscal year 1947.

(c) To assist other countries in the restoration of their economies the Export-Import Bank has already negotiated loans in the fiscal year 1946 amounting in total to about 1,010 million dollars and an additional 195 million dollars will probably be committed shortly.  The Bank is also granting loans to carry out its original purpose of directly expanding the foreign trade of the United States.  In this connection the Bank has established a fund of 100 million dollars to finance the export of cotton from the United States.  The Export-Import Bank has thus loaned or committed approximately 1,300 million dollars during the current fiscal year and it is expected that demands on its resources will increase in the last 6 months of the fiscal year 1946.  Requests for loans are constantly being received by the Bank from countries desiring to secure goods and services in this country for the reconstruction or development of their economies.  On July 31, 1945, the lending authority of the Expert-Import Bank was increased to a total of 3,500 million dollars.  I anticipate that during the period covered by this Budget the Bank will reach this limit.  The bulk of the expenditures from the loans already granted will fall in the fiscal year 1946 while the bulk of the expenditures from loans yet to be negotiated will fall in the fiscal year 1947.  In view of the urgent need for the Bank’s credit, I may find it necessary to request a further increase in its lending authority at a later date.